Chapter 108: All Are Fat Sheep!

“Cover the entire body with magic.”

As the magic spread across her whole body, Su Miao’s eyes lit up.

Standing before the mirror, Su Miao noticed faint blue magical radiance circulating in her eyes. She looked just like a high elf mage from a game—beautiful beyond words.

In this state, her entire body felt incredibly comfortable, as though she were no longer affected by the cold at all.

However, the indoor temperature was currently fifteen degrees Celsius, so the difference in how it felt might not be obvious. Excited, Su Miao hurried downstairs, opened the front door, and prepared to test it outside the villa.

“Your Highness, you forgot your down jacket.”

The myna saw Su Miao go outside without either her down jacket or gloves and immediately flew after her.

Without Her Highness Su Miao, it would have frozen to death before the blizzard even arrived.

She was the kind-hearted, long-term provider it had taken such pains to find.

Therefore, Her Highness Su Miao absolutely could not come to harm. Otherwise, where would it find such a wonderful job as a pet and personal attendant?

At nine in the morning, the outdoor temperature was minus seventy-five degrees Celsius.

Su Miao stood in the heavy, goose-feather snow. With magic covering her entire body, she felt only the faintest trace of cold.

That chill was like autumn before the apocalypse—crisp air, clear skies, and a pleasant temperature.

“It seems I could even wear a pretty, adorable Japanese school uniform now.”

Su Miao blinked and checked her body temperature.

She scooped up a handful of snow from the ground and packed it into a snowball.

The sensation of touching the snowball was no different from picking an apple out of water.

Delighted, Su Miao began running through the snow, but after only a few steps, she had to stop.

There was nothing she could do about it. The snow in the courtyard was simply too deep, and the slightest carelessness would send it pouring into her shoes.

“Your Highness, are you all right?” the myna asked anxiously from the air.

“I’m fine.”

Su Miao raised her hand and tossed out several enormous fireballs, melting all the snow blocking the path from the courtyard to the outside.

She glanced around and was startled by what she saw. The snow had nearly reached the height of a two-story building.

The snowfall was so severe that, in a few more days, the entire villa might well be buried beneath it.

Su Miao immediately got to work, continuing to hurl huge fireballs until all the snow surrounding the villa had been cleared away.

The snow would continue piling up after being cleared, of course.

But leaving it untouched would only cause greater trouble later.

Looking at the open ground she had created, Su Miao simply took out some growth potion and planted a few fresh vegetables.

When Sun Rong and the others arrived, they could harvest them for themselves.

She hoped they would continue to survive.

After taking care of everything, Su Miao returned to the villa.

The myna flew several circles outside, confirmed that Her Highness Su Miao was perfectly safe, and returned inside with peace of mind.

Back in front of the fireplace, Su Miao began recording the basic data for “Magic Covering the Entire Body—Initial Version,” along with the approximate amount of magic it consumed.

Judging from the current results, using magic to cover the entire body and thereby isolate it from both extreme cold and heat had basically achieved its intended purpose.

However, this initial version consumed an enormous amount of magic.

The rate of magic consumption needed improvement.

The next step would be researching how to keep the full-body magical covering active passively and continuously.

…

The Six-Person Team’s Villa.

With no shortage of food, the six people kept the villa in perfect order, smiles brightening every face.

At noon, they ate boiled corn, boiled potatoes, and boiled soybeans, and everyone was thoroughly full.

“Everyone, we’ll be chopping firewood this afternoon,” Sun Rong announced.

Guo Yixing, Luo Zhengyi, Chu Zekai, Yu Feng, and Teng Jingyu looked at one another. After several seconds of silence, they rose to their feet with great reluctance.

After every meal, they never wanted to move, but there was no choice. Without firewood, they would freeze to death.

Moreover, for a while after eating their fill, their bodies were at their warmest and most resistant to the cold. They had to make use of that period to gather as much firewood as possible.

The six of them prepared their equipment, locked the villa’s front door, and set out together.

The bushes on the two barren mountains nearby had already been almost completely cut down. This time, they needed to cross both mountains and gather wood from the more distant hills.

The round trip would take nearly two hours.

“Captain, although we have food and can keep warm now, we’re almost out of salt,” Teng Jingyu said. “If we continue without salt, things will become very bad.”

“That’s right. People can die from having no salt.”

“In weather like this, where are we supposed to find salt?”

“Coming here to chop wood is already our limit. Forget reaching somewhere farther away—we’d freeze to death for sure.”

One after another, they voiced their worries about running out of salt.

Sun Rong said, “It’s true. Without salt, we won’t be able to survive. We need to think of a solution.”

In truth, the moment Teng Jingyu had opened her mouth, Sun Rong had known exactly what she was thinking: she wanted him to ask the witch for salt.

Had they really forgotten who had given them the food after only a few days of eating their fill? Had they also forgotten the scene of the witch slaughtering her way through everything in her path? He wanted to live.

If they did not have to harvest vegetables every five days, Sun Rong would have gone as far away as possible and never appeared within the witch’s sight, lest Her Highness the Witch kill him on a whim.

Seeing that the captain would not take the bait, Teng Jingyu looked toward the others. The rest merely assumed it was too cold and quickened their pace.

In temperatures this low, every word spoken accelerated the loss of body heat.

After an hour and fifteen minutes, the group reached a mountain forest where the trees grew densely.

“Everyone, be careful. When exploring a new area, probe ahead with the reeds, and watch out for hidden drops,” Sun Rong said as he surveyed the snow-covered forest. “First, let’s look for branches that have been crushed beneath the snow and drag those back. With the time we save, we’ll clear a path here and build an igloo to use as a temporary camp.”

“Captain, we only have a few hours, and you want us to do all that?” Teng Jingyu asked.

“I want to survive. I don’t want to freeze to death. I assume everyone feels the same.”

“Let’s get to work,” Yu Feng said. “Don’t let all those calories go to waste.”

Teng Jingyu said nothing more and began working alongside the others.

“Holy crap! Look at this—what is it?”

Two hours later, Guo Yixing dug a frozen rabbit out of the snow and shouted excitedly.

“A rabbit! What a huge rabbit!”

Before anyone could get a proper look, Guo Yixing cried out again.

The group was ecstatic.

They had not eaten meat in many days. None of them had expected to find a rabbit that had frozen to death.

Under normal circumstances, such a rabbit would certainly not be fit to eat. But with the temperature outside sitting more than seventy degrees below zero, the rabbit had frozen solid the moment it died. Once the organs were removed, the meat would undoubtedly be fresh.

“We have meat!” Teng Jingyu’s eyes shone.

“Put it away for now,” Yu Feng said. “Let’s finish setting up the temporary camp and go home to eat rabbit meat.”

Sun Rong thought of something. “Old Guo, mark the place where you found the rabbit. There must be a rabbit warren nearby. If we’re lucky, we can eat more rabbit and complete the witch’s task as well.”

Teng Jingyu’s eyes lit up. She asked expectantly, “Captain, do you think the witch will give us salt if we complete her task?”

The others looked equally hopeful.

“I don’t know,” Sun Rong replied.

The warmth brought by lunch had nearly been used up.

Sun Rong checked the time and said, “It’s time. We should head back.”

“Okay!”

The others answered and picked up their pace.

It was far too cold outside, and they could hardly wait to return to the fireplace and eat rabbit meat.

Whether boiled or roasted, it was sure to be delicious.

Suddenly, a roar sounded from not far away.

Sun Rong and the others changed expression, instantly becoming as wary as if they were facing a great enemy.

After successfully enduring three months of torrential rain and flooding, they understood better than anyone that, in this apocalyptic world, humans encountered in the wilderness were far more dangerous than mutated animals or plants.

A dozen seconds later, three snowmobiles appeared in their field of vision.

The snowmobiles came to a stop. Three fully armed men sat astride them, each holding a gun in one hand as they looked down arrogantly at the six people gathering firewood below.

“You lot! Where did you come from? Don’t you know that all the mountains around here belong to our Fire God Base?” the young man at the front said coldly.

His name was Zheng Yingjun. He was a squadron commander at Fire God Base. The two men behind him were his partners, Lin Hong and Lü Qigang.

Confronted by the dark muzzles of the guns, Sun Rong and the others wore bitter expressions and stood frozen in place, not daring to move.

They had only wanted to gather some firewood…

Zheng Yingjun said, “Which one of you is in charge?”

Sun Rong had not even stepped forward before Teng Jingyu immediately pointed at him. The others all turned their eyes toward Sun Rong, making the answer obvious.

Zheng Yingjun shot Teng Jingyu a glance, then looked back at Sun Rong and the others, his expression darkening.

“What? Didn’t you hear me?”

These people are all looking remarkably healthy.

Tsk, tsk. This woman even has the leisure to take care of her appearance. We’ve caught ourselves some fat sheep. Now all that remains is to see whether any of them have special abilities.

He looked toward Lin Hong, who stood beside him. Lin Hong shook his head, indicating that none of the six possessed any special abilities.

Excellent. They were all fat sheep.

Sun Rong stepped forward with a miserable expression. “Gentlemen, we’re only cutting a little firewood to keep warm. Please let us go.”

Zheng Yingjun chuckled. “Easy for you to say. After you cut down all the trees, where is our Fire God Base supposed to gather wood?”

Sun Rong thought for a moment, then took out the rabbit they had found. “Gentlemen, this is a rabbit we picked up. Please show us mercy.”

When the three men saw how plump the rabbit was, their eyes lit up.

Although they were special-ability users from Fire God Base and enjoyed exalted status, they did not have the chance to eat meat every day.

A rabbit this large, roasted properly and taken back with them, would be unbelievably delicious.

But…

Zheng Yingjun said, “This rabbit belonged to Fire God Base in the first place. You’re trying to bribe us with our own rabbit. Don’t you find that amusing? I should charge you with stealing it!”

Sun Rong’s expression grew even more miserable.

These people were clearly here to make trouble. They might even be planning to drag them back as forced labor.

He knew bases like this all too well. Unless one possessed special abilities, life inside would be worse than that of the workers in the ancient black coal mines.

If someone accidentally died, their body might even be ground into meat paste and fed to the survivors.

As for coming out alive?

That was practically impossible.

“Gentlemen, please,” Sun Rong begged. “Give us a way to live.”

“You want to live? That’s possible,” Zheng Yingjun said. “But it depends on how sincere you are.”

Sun Rong’s expression changed several times.

It was obvious that they wanted the group to hand over all their food and then be taken into Fire God Base.

He had considered countless possibilities, but this was the one thing he had never imagined.

Could they really do such a thing?

Sun Rong was certain that if they exposed the villa where they lived, involving the witch in the matter, the witch would kill every one of them.

At that moment, Teng Jingyu asked, “If we give you our stored food, will you let us go?”

Zheng Yingjun looked at her with interest. “Very clever. If you hand over enough food, I can even give several of you positions at Fire God Base.”

“Really? That’s wonderful!” Teng Jingyu exclaimed. “Then we won’t have to wander anymore.”

Sun Rong’s heart turned ice-cold.

The others felt the same.

That despicable woman, Teng Jingyu, was trying to curry favor with these strangers by selling out all of them—even the witch…

“Gentlemen,” Sun Rong said, “please allow us to take some wood back. Otherwise, we may freeze to death before the night is over.”

Zheng Yingjun glanced at his two companions, then nodded in permission.

His earlier claim that these mountains belonged to Fire God Base had merely been bluster.

Their true targets were the food Sun Rong and the others had stockpiled, along with six laborers they could bring back to the base alive.

As for this “clever woman”—she was fairly attractive. After he had tried her out a few times, he could assign her to his brothers. Once she was no longer useful, he would dispose of her.

An hour later, Sun Rong and the others arrived at the villa with the three men from Fire God Base.

Once home, Sun Rong deliberately glanced toward the direction of the witch’s residence. Heavy snow was falling, conveniently concealing the smoke rising from the chimney of the witch’s villa.

The snow outside was extremely deep, blocking their view just enough to ease Sun Rong’s nerves somewhat.

Because they had returned late and lost valuable time, the fire in the second-floor fireplace had gone out. The villa was bitterly cold, which happened to conceal the fact that it was equipped with central heating.

As long as they lit the fire in time, the heating pipes should not freeze and break.

That was what Sun Rong thought.

Teng Jingyu, however, was extremely proactive.

As though presenting a treasure, she led the men into the room where they stored their food. “Handsome, this is the food we’ve stockpiled.”

Fresh tomatoes, fresh soybeans, fresh corn, enormous leafy greens and cabbages, potatoes weighing several pounds each, red peppers…

Zheng Yingjun, Lin Hong, and Lü Qigang’s eyes went wide.

They eagerly picked up tomatoes to eat, but all stopped at the same time.

“Cut this tomato up and eat it in front of us,” Zheng Yingjun ordered, handing one of the tomatoes to Teng Jingyu.

“These tomatoes are delicious,” Teng Jingyu said.

She fetched a fruit knife from the kitchen, cut the tomato into six pieces, and handed one to each person. Then all six of them ate their pieces in front of the three men from Fire God Base.

Seeing that the six people showed no abnormal reaction after eating the tomato, Zheng Yingjun, Lin Hong, and Lü Qigang stopped holding back. In only a few bites, they had each devoured the piece in their hands.

How long had it been since they had tasted fresh vegetables?

Zheng Yingjun looked at the remaining tomatoes, licked his lips, and savored the aftertaste.

Without a doubt, these tomatoes—and the other vegetables as well—had undergone mutation. Otherwise, they could not possibly have remained so fresh, much less endured the cold.

He turned toward Sun Rong and the others, his gaze growing increasingly feverish.

“Where did you find these tomatoes? Take us there!”